Field of the Invention
The embodiments described herein are generally directed to metadata, and, more particularly, to the addition of descriptive metadata to digital media.
Description of the Related Art
Digital media—generally referred to herein as “content”—can take a variety of forms, including images (e.g., JPEG, GIF, BMP, etc.), video recordings (e.g., MPEG-4, AVI, MOV, etc.), audio recordings (e.g., WAV, MP3, WMA, etc.), text (TXT, XML, HTML, etc.), combinations of different forms (e.g., Microsoft Word™, Microsoft Powerpoint™, Portable Document Format (PDF), etc.), and other forms of data. When content is owned and/or is associated with a right to use, the content may be referred to as a “digital asset.” However, as used herein, the term “content” or “content item” (a specific instance of content) includes any type of media, regardless of whether or not it comprises a digital asset.
“Metadata,” which is often defined as “data about data,” is used herein to designate descriptive or technical information that is embedded in or otherwise associated with the data (e.g., file or files) embodying content. Technical metadata refers to information about the technical properties of the content, such as an identifier of the device that was used to capture the content, a resolution of the content, a timestamp representing the date and time on which the content was created and/or modified, a format of the content, etc. Descriptive metadata, on the other hand, refers to information describing the content, such as the names of individuals who appear in the content, an author or producer of the content, a rating of the content, a narrative description of the content, keywords that are relevant to the content, etc. Descriptive metadata is particularly useful for organizing, categorizing, and searching content. For example, a search engine may be configured to parse the descriptive metadata associated with a content item to determine whether the content item is relevant to a particular search query (e.g., if any text in the descriptive metadata match any keywords in the search query).
Currently, there are a number of commonly-used standards for storing metadata in association with content. For example, Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF) is a standard that specifies the formats for images, sound, and ancillary tags used by digital cameras (including smart phones), scanners, and other media-capturing devices. EXIF defines a number of metadata tags or fields into which metadata, including technical and descriptive metadata, can be entered. In EXIF, metadata is embedded within the content file itself. Another example standard is the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) Information Interchange Model (IIM), which has been largely superseded by the Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP). XMP is an open-source standard for the creation, processing, and interchange of standardized and custom metadata for all kinds of resources. XMP can be embedded in many types of file formats, such as JPEG, Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), and Portable Document Format (PDF), but can also be stored separately as a “sidecar” file to content. Generally, metadata stored using these formats comprise copyright information, credits, creation date, creation location, source information, comments, special format instructions, etc.
Whereas technical metadata can generally be automatically created and associated with content (e.g., during creation of the content), descriptive metadata is much less conducive to automatic generation and association. Conventionally, descriptive metadata must be manually entered and associated with content. For example, typically, for each individual content item, a content creator must select the content item and manually enter descriptive metadata to be associated with that content item, using a keyboard, touch pad, or other input device. For individuals or other entities (e.g., entertainment, film production, news, or broadcasting companies) that generate a lot of content, the generation and association of descriptive metadata with the created content can be inefficient, time-consuming, and otherwise burdensome.
For instance, with the advent of smart phones, tablets, and other digital devices and the decreasing cost of storage, the volume of content produced by users in the consumer market has exploded in recent years. A typical user of such devices may produce tens of thousands of content items. Over time, the majority of users do not bother to expend the effort necessary to manually add descriptive metadata to each content item. Furthermore, commonly-available applications, which may provide functions for adding metadata to content, do not provide the ability to add descriptive metadata in bulk. Instead, a user must wade through an ocean of content items and manually add descriptive metadata to each individual content item.
Moreover, conventional applications are not conducive to the addition of metadata in the moment. For example, many users take pictures in social situations, on vacations, during sporting events, and/or in other hurried environments, in which it is not convenient or appropriate for the user to stop for the length of time necessary to manually enter metadata. Thus, the entry of metadata is typically significantly delayed. This problem has been exacerbated with the advent of cameras with fast shutters, which can take multiple images per second, and which can produce hundreds of images in a short period of time. Content creators may often find themselves with hundreds or thousands of content items, each with generic names (e.g., assigned by the camera or other device), limited technical metadata, and little or no descriptive metadata.
The burden associated with manually entering metadata and the deficiencies in prior art applications has frustrated the ability of descriptive metadata to keep up with the ever-increasing volume of content that is generated today. In turn, this lack of descriptive metadata hinders the ability to search, organize, and enjoy such content. What are needed are improved processes and systems for adding descriptive metadata to content items. Embodiments should be user friendly, automatic or semi-automatic, and/or capable of being performed in bulk. Such improved processes and systems can facilitate the subsequent organization, sorting, and searching of the content items, thereby improving a user's experience of those content items.